1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of producing carbonate using carbon dioxide microbubbles, and the carbonate thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microbubbles are referred to as ultrafine bubbles having a diameter of 50 μm or less, the surface of each of which is electrically charged with anions. Microbubbles have been applied in various fields since a Japanese teacher first invented them.
Microbubbles can be generated in various ways, and, typically, can be generated using ultrasonic waves. In addition, microbubbles can be generated by passing water and air through a pressure reducing device such as an orifice or the like at a relatively high pressure to allow the air dissolved in water to be formed into innumerable particles by the pressure reducing device and then be discharged to the outside.
Currently, microbubbles are being used in various fields, such as the purification of water in reservoirs or fish farms, the etching and cleaning of semiconductor wafers, the washing of fruits or vegetables, and the like. Owing to such useful characteristics of microbubbles, they are being applied to more and more fields.
Meanwhile, carbonates are salts in each of which hydrogen of carbonic acid is substituted by a metal, and include a normal salt (carbonate), an acidic salt (hydrogen carbonate) and a basic salt. Carbonates can be practically used as high-priced building materials, filler for paper manufacturing, etc. and can also be used in foods, medicines and the like depending on the purity thereof. Therefore, carbonates are greatly advantageous economically.
Generally, carbonates are produced by absorbing carbon dioxide into a solid or aqueous metal oxide or metal hydroxide. However, this method is problematic in that carbonates cannot be produced in high yield because the absorption of carbon dioxide is low. Further, as part of the mineral carbonation technology, a method of producing carbonate by reacting carbonate ions with a rock or mineral containing cations is known.